Zardari’s security officer among 4 killed in Karachi blast

At least four people, including the chief security officer of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, were killed and 12 others injured on Wednesday when a powerful blast targeted a bullet-proof vehicle in a congested area in Karachi.

Bilal Sheikh, CEO of President Zardari in Karachi and a prominent leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was killed when the bomb ripped through his double cabin car in Gurumandir area, one of the city’s busiest locations.

A presidential spokesman said that Mr. Zardari is in Karachi but he was nowhere near the attack and was completely safe.

Rescue teams have shifted the four dead and 12 injured people to hospitals, rescue official Anwar Kazmi said.

Chaudhary Aslam, a senior police official, confirmed that Mr. Sheikh had been killed in the bomb attack.

Mr. Aslam said that the remote controlled bomb was planted in the double cabin car and was detonated when the car was at Gurumandir, where it stopped for a while.

Usman Bajwa, another police official, told the media that the bullet proof car was not properly built as it failed to sustain the impact of the bombing.

An official of the bomb disposal squad told Geo TV that four kg of explosives were used in the attack.